"Well-written, clear, and informed, they have a breezy wit about them.
I find them hard to stop reading."New York Times

"Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise."Wall Street Journal

"I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one's friends to Western
civilization."Boston Globe

Just a century after it had begun, philosophy entered its greatest age with
the appearance of Socrates, who spent so much of his time talking about philosophy on
the streets of Athens that he never got around to writing anything down. His method of
aggressive questioning, called dialectic, was the forerunner of logic; he used it to cut through
the twaddle of his adversaries and arrive at the truth. Rather than questioning the world, he
believed, we would be better off questioning ourselves. Socrates placed philosophy on the
sound basis of reason. He saw the world as not accessible to our senses, only to thought. Finally,
charged with impiety and the corruption of youth, he was tried and sentenced to deathand
ended his life by drinking the judicial hemlock.

In Socrates in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Socrates' life and
ideas and explains their influence on man's struggle to understand his existence in the world. The
book also includes selections from Socrates' work, a brief list of suggested readings for those who
wish to delve deeper, and chronologies that place Socrates within his own age and in the broader
scheme of philosophy.

Paul Strathern earned a degree in philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin, and has lectured in philosophy and mathematics. A Somerset Maugham prize winner, he has written books on history, philosophy, and travel as well as five novels. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including the Observer (London) and the Irish Times. He lives and writes in London.

Earphones Awards recipient Robert Whitfield was born in England and worked for the BBC for ten years as a radio news announcer and also worked as a narrator for the Royal National Institute for the Blind in London. In addition to narrating for Blackstone Audiobooks, he involves himself in numerous stage-acting projects in the United States and Europe.